Always
by Aakriti Aggarwal
Summary: Three years after the battle of Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy decides that he doesn't want to be lonely anymore. Will he be able to succeed in his endeavor to find true friends?


It was Neville Longbottom's birthday. All his friends were there to celebrate. Harry, Ron, Luna, Ginny along with Hermione and Neville were sitting on a table, exhausted from dancing earlier.

After recounting all their school tales and old stories, they all sat quite relaxed, a genuine smile played on each face.

This was the day they had all been looking forward to quite excitedly; they could not have met together for Harry's birthday: he was at No. 4, Privet Drive with the Dursleys.

For a while, everything seemed to have gone back in time, as if they were at the great hall, sitting together and laughing with each other, united after a long break.

"Nothing has changed much." They all liked to think; it was comforting to believe that while all major circumstances had changed, they still were quite the same, still very much pure at heart and ready to protect each other from danger.

Just then, the door burst open with a loud bang. All of them looked round at once, wands at the ready (Old reflexes took time to fade away).

Just as the door opened, they curiously looked at the newcomer, and some of them gasped. Standing at the door, looking slightly shaken, was none other than Draco Malfoy.

Looking up from the ground, Draco saw all the startled faces staring at him.

"Stupid door wouldn't open… Sorry." He muttered. Ron and Harry looked from Draco to Neville, their expressions suggesting that they were asking for an explanation for Draco's presence.

"What? I invited him… Just for old times' sake" He added quickly before getting up from his seat.

He went to Draco, unsure of how to talk to him now that he had actually turned up. Draco hadn't replied to Neville's invitation letter, he had simply fed and sent the owl back empty handed. Neville had actually ruled out any possibility of Draco's attendance.

He shook hands with the blonde boy. "Um… Welcome to the party. Thanks for coming." Neville said sheepishly.

Draco smiled uncomfortably. "Sure. I mean, I'm happy to be here". Being friendly wasn't easy for him. He took out a small parcel covered in intricate silver wrapping and gave it to Neville. "Happy Birthday" He said awkwardly.

Draco turned to see Harry, standing there with a stony expression on his face. Draco's smile immediately faded away into a scowl. Is scowl deepened when Ron whispered something in Harry's ear and they both laughed, presumably at Draco.

He turned to leave the party. _I'll never be accepted. What was I thinking, coming to Longbottom's party? Maybe I'm better off without any company._

Luna saw what was happening from a distance. She had also gone through a phase where no one wanted to be friends with her. She went there and held out her hand to Draco. "Hello Draco. So nice of you to come here. I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood."

"Um… I know who you are."

"Ooh good. Why don't you come over to our table? This way we can all sit together and have a little chat."

"No, thanks. I was just leaving-"

But Luna didn't give him the chance to finish his sentence. She steered through the party, arm in arm with Draco until they reached the table where they had all been sitting.

"Come, sit Draco. Friends, Draco is here to join us." she said, sitting down.

There was an uncomfortable silence. The eerie quiet was finally broken by Ginny, who said, "Hello er...Draco. What are you upto...er...What are you doing there days?"

It took a minute for Draco to realize that Ginny was actually talking to him.

"I'm looking forward to joining the Ministry." He finally replied, not meeting anyone's eyes. His eyes were fixated on the small charmed doll dancing at the center of the table.

Three years ago, he would have just given a rude reply, or a cold stare as an answer to their questions. But the war had changed him. He found himself trying to fit in with his old classmates, trying to find a friend.

It had been a while, they were all sitting there and talking. Draco had started to take part in conversations and was now quite comfortable. Sometime later, they were joined by Harry and Ron. All the time, Harry eyed Draco with great suspicion; his doubts grew even more when he saw Draco laughing with his friends. They were _his_ friends. He would never let Malfoy hurt them, ever again. He waited until they had all gone to dance again. Now only Harry, Draco and Hermione were sitting there.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry growled.

"Harry, I don't think this is the right-" Hermione began, but Draco cut her off in midsentence.

"Thank you, Hermione-" She gasped, for she had not heard her name taken with such politeness from Draco. "- but I think I'll answer him myself.

"Er… _Harry,_ I'm just here to say that I'm…er…sorry for all that I did. And I want to start a new life…. With friends." His own words sounded distant and alien to him, as if they were spoken by someone else. Saying all this had taken a lot of courage and determination. He had almost decided to not say any of this, just keep his old sneer on his face and walk out of the party. But the friendly nature of Ginny, Luna, and Hermione had boosted his confidence and given him hope. Hope, that things could be normal for him too.

He was determined to not let anyone ruin the probably happiest day of his life.

Harry decided not to react. His scowl remained intact, and he simply turned to leave to go to Ginny, leaving Hermione and Draco standing there.

Seeing Harry leave, Hermione turned to Draco, unsure of what to say. She really did believe that Draco had changed. She could see it in his eyes. They were full of guilt and remorse.

"Draco-" She began.

"No, Hermione. Let it be. I know how I've been all these years. It'll take a lot more that my apology to make everyone to believe that I've changed. Thanks for believing in me. Frankly, I was I bit surprised when you were being civil to me. And…."He hesitated. "I'm sorry for behaving the way I did to you, all these years… I shouldn't have called you a 'mudblood' or- or anything that I did. And if it means anything to you, you're the brightest witch of our age that I've met." Saying this, he left to get a drink.

Hermione stood there, flummoxed. She could not have expected this from Draco. It made her believe in what she thought.

Meanwhile, Harry and Ginny had been dancing slowly when Ginny asked, "So, I saw you standing with Draco earlier. How'd it go?"

"I don't trust him, Gin. I know you do now but-"

"Who said that I do? I don't fully trust him, harry. But I saw loneliness in his eyes, harry. And I don't want that to happen to anyone. Not even Malfoy. So I decided to give him a chance. Anyways, I do believe that he _has_ changed, even if it is a teeny tiny bit. It shows in his body language. No one is that good an actor, Harry. I have decided to trust him, and I think you should too."

Harry stood there for a long time, letting Ginny's words sink in. _I think she is right…_ He finally admitted it. "Fine. Just this once. For Ginny."

He went to the table where Draco was sitting alone. Draco saw him coming nearer.

"Come to show me the door?" Draco asked glumly. "Don't worry. I'm going on my own. This seems like a lost cause anyway."

This caught Harry off- guard. "Lost-?"

"Wait! Malf- Draco, wait. I had come to apologize for the way I behaved earlier. Im sorry." He hastily managed to arrange his features into an unconvincing smile.

Draco's eyes widened with surprise. "Apology accepted. No harm done, no offence taken." He tried to make a funny. "Sorry. Small talk isn't really my thing."

Harry grinned. "Mine neither."

Draco gestured for Harry to sit and they began talking about Quidditch, the only common topic they could think of. It was awkward at first, but soon they started feeling more comfortable. Harry and Draco realized that they were actually quite similar to each other in many ways. They began to identify with each other and started respecting each other as individuals. All of them sat together once more, this time, as a group, with a particularly happy Slytherin who no longer felt alone. There was a warm, fuzzy feeling in his chest; and the loneliness and sorrow slithered away, making way for the warmth of friendship and love. Nothing would change him back to his old self now. He was happy.

 _All was well._


End file.
